There are reconstructions. Then there are demolitions awaiting reconstruction due to a shortage of materials.
The San Jose Sharks lost their first eleven games of the season, including ten regular games, scored an average of just 1.09 goals per game, the worst in the NHL, and allowed an average of 4.91, also the worst performance in the National Hockey League. They also rank last in shots on the opponent’s net and shots allowed.
San Jose this weekend became the first club since Boston in 1965 to allow ten or more goals in two consecutive games, in losses 10-1 to Vancouver and 10-2 to Pittsburgh.
The Sharks have lost their ten regular games by at least two goals, including seven by at least three goals. The miracle came in the second game of the season, a point snatched from the Avalanche in a shootout loss in which goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 51 saves. His opponent received 21…
“We knew there were going to be tough times, but the last two games, our level of commitment was not acceptable, it can’t last much longer…” said general manager Mike Grier, in point impromptu press release on Monday.
Poor Grier is getting a lot of flak these days, but he’s inherited a tough situation. The Sharks enjoyed a long period of dominance from 2004 to 2018, with fifteen consecutive playoff appearances, seven top-5 finishes in the overall NHL standings, a Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and four other final fours, but his predecessor, Doug Wilson, rightly or wrongly, wanted to stretch the elastic to the maximum and Grier found himself with an aging club, overpaid players and little replacement.
The acquisition of Erik Karlsson in September 2018 hurt the sustainability of the organization. The Sharks reached the Western Conference final that season, but missed the playoffs the next four years, including last year despite a 101-point season from the Swedish defenseman.
In this transaction, the Senators inherited their second-line center, Sharks first-round pick in 2017, Josh Norris (who could be considered a first-line center), their first-line center, Tim Stützle, drafted third overall with pick obtained from San Jose, and two second-round picks.
Grier was forced into a rebuild with players whose value declined dramatically, and very little relief after sacrificing first-round picks in 2016, 2017 (Norris), 2019 and 2020, not to mention the pick miss from 2018, defenseman Ryan Merkley, 21st overall, 39 career National League games, now defenseman for Red Star of Kunlun, China.
At 37 years old, and above all on a contract with an annual salary of 8 million for another three years, defender Brent Burns had almost no value. Grier traded him to the Hurricanes last summer without getting anything in return.
Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton left in 2019 and 2020 respectively, taking advantage of their autonomy. The Sharks therefore received nothing for themselves. We got a third round pick from the Penguins for Patrick Marleau in February 2020.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl have no value due to their age or their unproductivity given their pharaonic contracts.
Mike Grier was able to get a 2023 first-round pick, a 2024 second-round pick and defensive prospect Shakir Mukhamadullin from the Devils for Timo Meier last winter. Mukhamadullin, 21, 6-foot-4, 190 pounds, is producing at an interesting rate in the American League with 16 points in 21 games since joining the organization. Drafted 26th overall last year with the pick of New Jersey, Quentin Musty had a good training camp and a solid start in Sudbury in the Ontario Junior League.
The Sharks’ top pick in 2023, fourth overall, ahead of defenseman David Reinbacher, center Will Smith got off to a hot start to his NCAA career with 11 points, including 5 goals, in 8 games at Boston College, after a phenomenal season in the American development program. As with Mukhamadullin, Musty, Filip Bystedt (end of first round pick in 2022 still in Sweden), Cam Lund, Thomas Bordeleau and Henry Thrun, we keep them away from the Sharks and their setbacks.
Only the 2021 first pick, 7th overall, forward William Eklund, is in San Jose, with mixed results, surrounded by Mike Hoffman, Fabian Zetterlund, Anthony Duclair, Filip Zadina, Mikael Granlund, Vlasic, Hertl and company.
Times are tough for the Sharks, but the next few years could bring a lot of hope. San Jose is alone in the race for last place in the rankings of a Macklin Celebrini or a Cole Eiserman, the two top draft prospects at the moment. Eiserman has 24 points, including 18 goals, in just 12 games in the U.S. Development Program. Celebrini has 14 points, including 8 goals, in just 8 games in his debut at Boston University, where CH prospect Lane Hutson plays.
The first round pick obtained from the Penguins for Erik Karlsson this summer could also pay off big if Pittsburgh does not recover. The Penguins would be drafted sixth overall if the draft were held today. But president and CEO Kyle Dubas has the option to keep this choice if he is among the top ten and give up his 2025 first-round pick. This could pay off even more if Pittsburgh sinks even further with its aging core.
Numerous reader reactions following Monday’s column on Juraj Slafkovsky. A majority criticizes the Canadian for hastening his entry into the NHL. They are not necessarily wrong, but neither is the Canadian.
The team’s management explained it on several occasions: they chose to keep Slafkovsky in Montreal because there were too many flaws in the young man’s game and they wanted to count on the presence of Martin St- Louis and his staff to correct the young man’s shortcomings on a daily basis. Not to win matches, not to justify their choice, but for maximum development in their eyes.
A bit like coach Pat Burns did at the time with Joe Thornton in Boston. Thornton, the first overall pick in 1997, 25 years before Slafkovsky, had just 7 points in 55 games in his first season. Burns’ decision was not bad since Thornton would later amass 1532…
Obviously don’t see this as a comparison between Thornton and Slafkovsky. Perhaps the CH was wrong in this matter, the future will tell us. But the intentions and approach have been clear from the start.
1- A student of Michel Therrien in the American League manages the CH prospect, David Reinbacher, in Switzerland. Guillaume Lefrançois took advantage of his trip to Zurich to speak with him.
2- In the eyes of Philippe Cantin, this is a mini-revolution in the NHL. What is he referring to? For you to read !
3- Caroline Coté has just written a book about her solo polar experience in Antarctica. La Presse presents extracts to you.
